Plastic Kit of USS Maine?

A correct  (or even semi-correct) model  of the USS Maine from the 1890s does not exist.     What is now sold as the Oregon under the Glencoe label was one time boxed and sold as the Maine,  but any resemblence is purely accidental.    The old Pyro Olympia (a cruiser)  was also boxed as the Maine (hey, have them paint it white and buff and no one will notice!)

There is a 1:350 scale resin kit of the Maine by Iron Shipwright which is available.   Right now if you take advantage of their end-of-year sale you can get it for about 88 bucks.

Blue Jacket used to have a 1:192 scale wood & white metal Maine in their catalog.  I believe it is currently OOP

So if I don't go resin I'm pretty much out of luck?  I've got a few Oregons and Revell (not Pyro) Olympias. 

There are not, and there were no sisterships. Iron Shipwright makes a resin kit at 1/350, which for $ 110 seems a bargain to me. But I've never built their kits, so others would have to weigh in.

Pre-dreadnoughts Rule!

Edit: overlapping posts. Ed that sounds very interesting. Is it buildable? Those Revell Olympias list on Oldmodelkits for about $ 275.00! Imagine that.

I've managed to get all my Revell Olympias off evilbay for around $80 each, so maybe I've been a little lucky with that.  The worst problem I've had with them is one kit was missing the instructions and anchor chain (the kit does, in fact, come with scale metal anchor chain), both of which are easily replaced.  I got a copy of the instructions from  a friend at my local IPMS club and the chain from Model Expo.

Checked out the Iron Shipwrights kit...neat!  I'll have to save my money up for one of those!  But, on the downside, I've never worked with resin...surely it can't be that bad?

FSM used th have an article in their freebie article section by Phil Kirchmeier on building an ISW resin subchaser.  The article appears to be gone,  its from April 2004 is you happen to have back issues handy.    If you can't find it I have a copy on PDF I can mail you.

Kirchmeier goes over what is to be expected from a resin & brass ship kit.  How to work with it and the like.   Resin is fairly forgiving material.   It cuts & sands with your regular modeling tools.   It is painted with your favorite types of paint, enamel or acrylic.   However it must be glued using CA or epoxy.    

Photoetch railings are not too complicated on the Maine.    Measure your run length between logical endpoints;  prior run, bulkheads, gun tubs, etc.    Resist the urge to do an entire side at once just because you have a piece of railing that long.   Work inside to out - top to bottom.    Tack the railings in place using white craft glue (Aleenes Tacky Glue) which grabs quickly, allows repositioning, and cleans up with water.   When that is dry go back with some liquid CA to firmly cement in place.

A rap about resin is the bubbles.   They can be filled with your favorite putty,  CA,  Bondo, etc.   Surface bubbles can be filled with a piece of sprue & CA then sanded to shape.   Its all very forgiving.  Another rap against ISW kits is their instructions.   The older kits are just exploded drawings.   You may need secondary references,  photos and the like.

Now that you've bought the ISW kit,  they have a simple customer satisfaction policy.  They want you to be satisfied.    Inventory the kit when you receive it,  Is there anything missing or broken -- contact ISW and they'll replace the part.   You're working on the kit,   something isn't right,   you break it or mess up and sand it too small -- contact ISW and they'll get you replacements.   Got problems with the instructions?  Post back here or to ISW and ask for help.   I've even heard that ISW replaced broken parts on a ship which was knocked off the shelf by a cat 2 years after the kit was purchased.   Jon & Ted want you to be satisfied.

Full disclosure -- I have worked at the ISW stand at the past several IPMS National conventions and am a good friend with both Jon & Ted.   I've built masters for some of the ISW products

The only plastic Maine kits I've ever seen are the old Pyro one (which was a not-much modified version of the same company's Olympia, and bore virtually no resemblance to the real Maine) and an identical kit that was sold in a Heller box (labeled "Cuirasse Maine"). 

I've heard at least one longtime modeler assert, quite emphatically, that Pyro once did produce a very basic kit that looked a little more like the actual Maine - i.e., the turrets were staggered and a couple of other changes were made to the original Olympia molds.  I can't confirm that on the basis of personal experience, but I can't deny it either.

I don't recall that the ITC/Glencoe Oregon was ever sold under any other name - but I can't deny that one with certainty either.  Plastic kit manufacturers are capable of just about anything.

On the subject of resin kits - the Russian manufacturer has a Maine on 1/700 scale.  I haven't seen it "in the flesh," but if it's at all like the other Combrig products I've seen it's excellent - and reasonably priced.  Here's a link:  http://combrig-models.com/index.php/products/1700/7-us-navy-1860-1918/52-maine1895 .

EdGrune

Blue Jacket used to have a 1:192 scale wood & white metal Maine in their catalog.  I believe it is currently OOP

BJ's MAINE was a limited edition kit of 100 developed to celebrate the company's 100th birthday.  In 1/128 scale, it was a standard mult-media kit - machine carved basswood hull, laser-cut superstructure, resin and britannia castings, and about 600 pieces of PE.  Most were sold before the kit was in full production and all were sold in less than a year.

Al Ross

The Pyro USS Maine was simply an Olympia with offset side sponsons for the main turrets.  There were no other differences between the kits.  I remember being profoundly disappointed when I opened the box when I was 14 years old.  I felt cheated.

Bill Morrison

I think I bought the Heller version (which was labeled "Cuirasse Maine").  That would have been in the late seventies, I'd guess.  I don't remember much about it (largely because it quickly ended up in the garbage), except that I concluded that it was the Pyro Olympia with, apparently, no modifications - even the turrets were on the centerline.

I seem to recall that, for a while, Pyro was selling the kit with a disclaimer on the side of the box reading:  "The within model [I remember that rather awkward phrase] is similar to the Maine, but not an exact duplicate."  (Yeah, right.  An "exact duplicate," after all, would be 324 feet long.)  And a similar notice appeared for a while on the box of the riverboat Nachez.  (The kit inside the box was in fact the Robert E. Lee, molded, for some illogical reason, in lots of bright colors.) 

Ah, the wonders of the plastic model industry.  In any other business, people who pull stunts like that go to jail for consumer fraud.

I am sorry to report that you are wrong on the fact of the USS Maine BB 10 as not haveing any sisterships. She did in fact have two sisters IE USS Missouri BB 11 and USS Ohio BB12. Both of these ships took part in the Great White Fleets sail around the world under President Theodore Roosevelt circa 1907.

Now does anyon know of any model kits of the USS Maine BB 10 Circa 1898, or either of her sister ships USS Missouri BB 11 and USS Ohio BB 12 Circa 1899 through  1922 in any scale.

Bondoman is correct, the USS MAINE of Spanish American War fame had no sister ships, it was a one off class. The battleship MAINE you refer to DID have two sister ships but these ships were laid down 8 days after the armored cruiser MAINE was blown up in Havana harbor. The resin companies might offer a BB 10-11 example, perhaps someone with resin knowledge  will chime in on this subject.(even if it is a year old!).

Bigb123

Checked out the Iron Shipwrights kit...neat!  I'll have to save my money up for one of those!  But, on the downside, I've never worked with resin...surely it can't be that bad?

I'm currently working with resin for the first time with a Yankee Model Works backdate set for the Trumpeter  1/350th CV-2 (USS Lexington).  I was surprised at how easy the resin parts are to work with.  The only downsides  to it I've seen is that it is very brittle and there can be air bubbles left from the casting process.

As for working with it, think something like basswood.  It's hard but carves and sands pretty easily.  It's all about removing a tiny amount of material and test fitting over and over again until it's right.  My primary tools are 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper, a razor saw, and, an exacto knife.  It's nothing to be afraid of.  Just move on it slowly and carefully.

Good luck,

Ray

Ray Marotta

 

I'm currently working with resin for the first time with a Yankee Model Works backdate set for the Trumpeter  1/350th CV-2 (USS Lexington).  I was surprised at how easy the resin parts are to work with.  The only downsides  to it I've seen is that it is very brittle and there can be air bubbles left from the casting process.

An interesting thing about resin kits, if new for anyone. We're all used to plastic injection molded kits, in particular at present, where you pay a modest amount of money, open the box and there are about 229 gazillion parts. That can and is fun.

Usually when you open a resin kit, for which you have paid a considerable sum, there's maybe a couple of dozen parts (well, yes more, but not a big box packed with sprues).

What inspection reveals however is that each part is packed with fine detail, representing a major sub assembly of the original master model. So the emphasis switches to painting, detailing and weathering the final model as opposed to spending weeks sticking together little plastic parts.

It's different, to be sure.

Resin is more a state of mind than anything else, at least to me. When I got back into modeling after a gap of some 30-odd years, I was focused on building a Victory-class cargo ship from WW II in homage to my Dad, who served on them.

As anyone who has looked around for them knows, the only Victory ship kits available are either the resin kits in 1/700 or the larger-scale, and hideously expensive, multimedia kits. I went with resin, not having a frickin' clue what I was doing, and my first effort turned out just fine! Is it an award winner? Heck no! But it's mine, and I'm proud of it, and I have learned from that and gotten steadily better:

Now things are looking more like this:

The Haskell is a masterpiece.

As pointed out in another post there were two USN BBs named Maine.  BB-10 was the later vessel.  As to kits for this class there are no injection molded plastic models available.  There is a resin model of Ohio from Iron Shipwrights in 1/350.

Other classes of USN predreadnoughts are also made by ISW in 1/350.  

In 1/700 Niko Models has produced ships in the Virginia, Illinois and Connecticut classes as well as the original Maine, Iowa and the first Texas.  New product in USN predreadnoughts is also coming out from Combrig in 1/700, check their web site for product announcements or pre orders on the Pacific Front web site.

Dr. Ross did a magnificent job making the BlueJacket multi media kit. I have seen one built and also seen the excellent photos of Dr. Ross' build, including a very nice photo from the Naval War College which shows the original model repainted with the McGinnis green anti-fouling.

I'm from Maine, and have been building ship kits since I was kid. I have always wanted a model of the Maine. I have searched high and low for one of the Bluejacket kits, and keep searching auction sites in the hopes someone bought one and never got around to building it. My first thought was that I'd give an arm to get one of these kits, but upon reflection I'll need 2 hands, so I guess i could give up a leg.  If anyone knows of one for sale I'd love to here about it.

Right now I'm building the ISW 1/350 scale Maine. Basically its a decent kit, and as another poster mentioned the owners of the company are fantastic about sending out replacement parts. Their molds of the big parts, hull and superstructures are good and my kit required very little filling etc. My basic problem with this kit is the fact that almost all of the small parts are unusable and unfixable with putty etc.. So after spending $100 on the kit, Ive had to spend about as much to buy aftermarket repalcement parts, such as funnels, guns and gun barrels, boats etc.. .  I like that ISW includes a photo etch fret in their kit. 

I've seen photos of the Combrig/Kombrig kit of the Maine all built and painted and it looks to be a fantastic kit, go to their website and see the lit as weel as the amazing selection of other pre-WWI ships in both 1/350 and 1/700.  They have a goodly number of non-russian ships.

Good hunting and "Remember the Maine..."

Combrig makes great kits. The piece count is super low, painting is the main project.

I made the Ironshiwrights Maine in resin and it came out very nice. First time I worked with resin. Not that hard. I have the Pyro Maine in a pristine box but I don't think I am going to make it. I have seen some go for $100 on ebay. I may sell it.